Lately, it seems that there has been a rise of quizzes offering answers to questions such as “Which Character From (Insert your favorite sitcom here) Are You?” to “What Kind of Car Should You Drive?” on our favorite procrastination websites. While the majority of us collegiettes know these quizzes are just for fun, they are becoming increasingly popular. Buzzfeed’s “What City Should You Live In,” for example, has experienced more than 20 million – yes, 20 million – unique visitors. Does this mean lots of people are thinking of moving? Not exactly. Actually, the reasoning behind their popularity might surprise you; it is rooted in psychology.
Quizzes like these reflect one of the many changes digital technology has brought to our lives. We tend to trust technology as much, if not more, as we trust people. Looking to online quizzes for validation tends to be a mere extension of our need to digitally quantify our lives. While you probably wont – and shouldn’t – think or act differently based on the fact that Buzzfeed feel’s you’re more of a Schmidt than Nick from New Girl, for example; the results of these quizzes do contribute to, at least to some extent, our sense of self. As Buzzfeed quizzes become more popular, we tend to share them with more people, discuss them more with friends and therefore add fuel to the fire.
Additionally, quizzes like these fuel the ever-increasing and invasive social media use as well. An article from wired.com quoted an expert explaining this trend:
“People have always been taking quizzes like this, but [before social media], you were doing it for yourself,” Turkle says. “But now they’re specifically for performance. Here, part of the point is to share it, to feel ‘who you are’ by how you share who you are. [It’s] the conflation of who you are and who thinks you’re okay.”
So, while we may think these seemingly just-for-fun quizzes are simply another way to put off writing that 10-page paper that you should have finished yesterday, they also probably have other implications that we naturally don’t always think about.
Like all things on the Internet, smart collegiettes will approach Buzzfeed quizzes with caution and make sure not to get caught up. They’re undeniably fun to take and share, especially when they tell you that you are practically destined to drive a Maserati (and wouldn’t we all like to believe that about ourselves?). However, remember that these quizzes are not everything. Take the results with a grain of salt and slow down with the Internet quizzes.
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